Yahoo News Coronation Street's Sam star Jude Riordan addresses soap exit after fans left concerned
Coronation Street star Jude Riordan has addressed an exit from the soap after some fans were left concerned. The actor is best known for playing Sam Blakeman in the ITV soap but has also simultaneously starred as Tyler Croft in the Sky comedy, Brassic.
But as Corrie fans know. Sam is the son of Nick Tilsley and the late Natasha Blakeman, and didn't meet his father until he was nine years old, as Natasha and Nick had split up before Natasha knew she was pregnant.
A chance encounter at Weatherfield General in 2020 caused Nick to find out that he had a son. Bright and with a passion for astronomy, Sam was very close to his mother. However, Natasha was tragically shot dead by gangster Harvey Gaskell in 2021, leaving Sam mute from grief, until Hope Stape helped him out of his shell, as did Roy Cropper and games of chess.
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More recently, Sam was left seeing more than any young boy should when there was an armed raid at the Bistro, owned by his dad Nick, after Nick went into business with Harvey's brother, Damon Hay who had been using the restaurant as a cover for a drugs operation then he has since been involved in a car accident with Simon Barlow after he'd been drinking.
And while viewers are fans of Sam, they need not worry about his time on cobbles as Jude has confirmed that for now, he isn't going anywhere. The young star took to social media to share a string of new headshots with his followers, something actors get done every now and again to add to their CVs and showreels.
Captioning the string of professional images, Jude wrote on his Instagram page, which he monitored by his parents: "New Headshots @annasalekportraits_headshots #headshots #actor #youngperformer #filming."
Quick to respond, followers @flickhan said: "Please don't say you are leaving Coronation Street," to which Jude replied: "I haven't had head shots since I was 9. So wanted updated ones."
Another, @katefevre, said: "Look different for some reason. Handsome though," to which Jude said: "That's the best. I want to look different to the characters I play. I don't think I look much like Sam or Tyler even though I am 'them'."
